Grip for golf clubs or the like



May 14, 1940- E. B. LAMKIN GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS OR THE LIKE Filed April 17, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l 11 zavezaibr 1Q Z Zaer j [ave/2222 ay .14 1940- E. B. LAWN 2.200.626

GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS OR THE LIKE Filed April 17, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zzzvezzzr Z 2W6)" J3. ZZM/Zi M y 14 1940 E. B. LAMKIN 2,200,626

GRIP FOR' GOLF CLUBS OR THE LIKE Filed April 17, 1939 3 Shets-Sheet s I d g- 3y flue/EJ2 3072;

Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

16 Claims.

My invention relates to grips for golf clubs or the like. In some of its aspects it is particularly suitable for grips of golf clubs, but some of its aspects are suitable for the handles of rackets as well.

In some respects my present invention constitutes an improvement over that disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 122,924, filed January 29, 1937 issued October 24, 1939 as Pattent No. 2,177,143; and in some respects it constitutes an improvement over my contemporary application Serial No. 268,227, filed April 17, 1939.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved bead for manual traction and especially a bead which can be prefabricated into the strip before it is wrapped and presents a neat appearance.

Another object is the provision of a bead which is formed of the same piece of leather as the grip strip and is conformed to present relatively sharp shoulders.

Another object is the provision of a grip which in manufacture may readily and conveniently be started and terminated at any desired points along the length of the grip strip.

Still another object is an improved bead prefabricated into the grip strip to constitute a butt bead encircling the handle at its butt end.

The foregoing together with further objects, features and advantages of my invention are set forth in the following description of specific embodiments thereof and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a golf club handle embodying my invention with a single bead formed in the grip;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the club in use;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the grip strip before it is wrapped on the handle;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the back side of the strip showing one end of the bead;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the strip at the region of the bead;

Figs. 6 to 10 are views corresponding to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, but showing a modification using twin beads;

Fig. 11 is an elevation of the handle of a racket embodying my invention;

Fig. 12 is a butt end view of the racket handle of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a face view of the butt end of the grip strip before it is wrapped upon the handle;

Fig. 14 is a medial cross section through the butt end of the handle, taken on the line I l-l4 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 15 is a section similar to Fig. 14, but showing a modified form of bead.

On the upper end of the shaft ID of the golf club shown in Fig. 1, a handle is formed which consists of the usual paper listing or filler (not shown) wrapped about the handle portion of the shaft to augment the flare of the shaft itself and to build up the diameter of the handle, and a strip of leather ll spirally wrapped around the listed handle portion and cemented thereto to form the grip.

As shown in Fig. 3 the upper end of the leather strip II is cut obliquely, as indicated at I2, at the angle of lead. The pointed end is first applied and tacked. The initial convolution slightly overlaps the point to conceal the tack and raw edge and to provide an additional hell or flare at the upper end of the handle. The convolutions are laid so that the lateral edges of the strip abut. The lower end of the leather strip is similarly obliqued and finished by a whipping 13. The leather strip H is preferably formed from leather presenting, on its outer side, a top grain which has been rendered semitacky by treatment, such as the usual soaking in a solution of carnauba wax, pitch and neatsfoot oil.

An outwardly protruding bead I4 is formed longitudinally and medially of the strip II. The bead may extend more or less of the entire length of the strip. But, as here shown and in accordance with the principles set forth in my previouslymentioned Patent No. 2,177,143, I prefer to restrict the bead M to that region which is normally engaged by the upper hand of the golfer, as demonstrated in Fig. 2. By thus locating and confining the head, a better grip is assured for the upper hand than for the lower hand, and also the player is made more sensible of his upper hand than of his lower hand, with the combined result that the grip tends rather automatically to insure that the player put the proper emphasis on the left hand in swinging the club, which otherwise he is inclined to slight.

The bead I4 is preferablya corded bead employing at the back side of the strip a sinuous filler [5, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which may be twisted cotton strands. The bead is further formed by a species of corded seam employing a stitching by which the leather is penetrated along the two sides of the base of the bead, as

indicated at it, with the threads concatenated, as indicated at ll, at the back side to embrace the filler l5 and hold the filler in the bight of the bead in the leather. Those portions of the thread which come through to the outer surface of the leather, as at l6, serve to preserve rather sharp base corners for the bead, whereby the bead is maintained in substantially semi-cylin drical contour to the exclusion of any sizable fillets at the base. In this way the bead, despite the small overall dimensions of its cross section, provides quite definite shoulders for engagement by the palm and fingers.

At each end of the bead the filler l5 preferably protrudes a little beyond the stitching, as shown in Fig. 4, and the end of the filler may be tapered or. in the instance of a twisted cord, it may be untwisted, so that the ends of the bead will taper oil into the flat. The back side ii of the stitching is substantially coplanar with the back of the strip, so that when the strip is applied to the handle the stitching does not interfere with the adhesion of the back of the leather to the handle throughout substantially its entire area.

In accordance with the principles set forth in my contemporary application, Serial No. 268,- 227, above mentioned, I have shown margins of the grain of the strip ll skived from the face at regions longitudinally coextensive with the bead to present a suede finish margin 58 on each side of the bead i l. The suede finish margins iii are thus depressed a little below the top grain. The exposure of the suede surface is of advantage to counteract the tendency of the tacky finished grain in becoming less non-skid in the presence of moisture from rain or perspiration, since the suede finish tends to become more non-skid in the presence of moisture. This arrangernent makes for a more all-weather grip.

It will be understood that the bead M may be longer than here shown and extend through the region of grip for the lower hand as well. and the bead 641 may be either longer or shorter than the suede finish margins H3, or the latter may be eliminated entirely.

In Figs. 6 to 10, I have shown a modification wherein a pair of spaced beads M are employed. The region engaged by the lower hand is shown as provided with patterned major perforations l9 and also with minor perforations 20 disposed between the beads i l.

These perforations provide an additional nonskid characteristic, but less so than do the beads.

My corded seam incorporated in the grip presents an unusually attractive appearance and yet it does not expose a second or foreign material; the exposed portion of the grip is all leather and the same piece of leather. There is no second piece of leather or other material which might work loose from the major strip. Even though the stitching should break loose here and there under extreme service, there are no parts to work loose because the filler is still sealed beneath the leather strip.

From the assembly standpoint, my corded seam bead is of particular advantage because the workman who wraps the grip strip on to the handle has but one integral piece to apply.

In Figs. 11 to 15 I have shown my medial corded seam applied to the handle of a tennis racket, and also another corded seam forming a butt bead for the handle.

Here the racket handle 2! is shown of conventional octagonal cross section. The grip strip 22 as usual is wider than in a golf grip. It may optionally have-as here sho\vn-a single medial corded seam 23 like the corded seam M of Fig. 1, except that it preferably extends throughout the length of the grip strip. However, lateral skiving, as shown at l8 in Fig. 1, may be employed, or the twin corded seams of Fig. 6 may be substituted. Or, it may be left plain, save for the butt bead.

In lieu of the usual flared butt end of the racket handle, or a separate encircling strip of wedgeshaped cross section, I provide a corded seam 24 for the butt end. This is pre-formed in the strip 22 along its obliquely cut end 25, so that the bead thereby formed becomes an integral part of the strip.

In Figs. 13 and 14 the corded seam 24 is formed by parallel lines of stitching 26 exposed at the face along the respective margins of the bead and concatenated over the filler cord on the back side after the fashion of Fig. 5. This presents a half round head. But in Fig. 15, I have shown a modification where the obliquely cut end margin 25' is rolled back under the filler cord and secured by a single line of simple stitching 26'. This presents a three-quarter round bead 24'.

In application. the pointed end 27 of the strip is first tacked in place at the end of the handle. Then the wrapping is commenced. The first convolution is laid with the oblique edge in the place of the butt end of the handle, preferably so that there is an overlap of the better part of an inch for the obliquely cut edge. This overlap is represented by the distance 28 in 13 between the end of the corded seam and the point 21. Thus there is neither a substantial overlap nor gap of the butt bead itself. Thereafter the wrapping and adhering of the strip upon the handle is continued in the usual manner with closed butt joints between the marginal edges of successive convolutions.

A slight angling of the lateral edge of the strip 22, indicated at 29 in Fig. 13, as it approaches the point 2'! is preferable. Its purpose is to aid in solving the problem of providing the above mentioned overlap at the butt edge without carrying the overlap appreciably forward of the butt head. The angle 25, together with the give or slight stretchability of the strip, permits a neatly tailored accomplishment of this objective. This is because the angle 29 lessens the width of the first convolution. especially toward the point 27, and brings its lateral edge more nearly into register with the adjacent lateral edge of the next convolution.

The lore-forming of a butt bead in a strip typo grip. in accordance with my invention. makes for a much faster and easier application and completion of the grip, since the operator does not have to apply more than the single strip or ring 30 (except for a dressing strip at the opposite end i of the handle).

While I have illustrated and disclosed these specific embodiments of my invention, I contemplate that substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A grip for the handle of a golf club, racket. or the like, comprising a strip of leather spirally wrapped about and adhered to the handle with its edges abutting and having a longitudinally extending medially outward bead formed therein. a sinuous filler for the head at the back side of the strip and stitching extending along both edges of the base of the bead with its threads concatenated at the back of the strip and beneath the filler.

2. A grip for the handle of a golf club, racket, or the like, comprising a strip of leather spirally wrapped about, and adhered to, the handle with its edges abutting and having formed outwardly in its face a bead running along the strip and spaced inwardly from its edges, and stitching uniting the strip on one side of the bead with the strip on the other side of the bead to hold the leather in its bead conformation, the grip, through a major continuous portion of the length of the handle, presenting a gripping surface which consists solely of the outer surface of the leather strip-save for exposed portions of the stitching.

3. A handle for a golf club, racket, or the like, having as a grip a single thin leather strip wrapped spirally about the handle with its edges abutting, and an outward bead formed longitudinally in the strip spaced inwardly from its edges and conformed by a sinuous filler interposed between the strip and handle and in register with the bead and by stitching passing through the strip at each corner of the base of the bead and passing behind the filler.

4. A wrapping adapted to be wrapped spirally about the handle of a golf club, racket, or the like, toconstitute the grip therefor, the wrapping being a prefabricated unit and comprising a single strip of thin leather, a sinuous filler pressed into the back side thereof to conform the face of the leather strip to a. running bead, and stitching extending through the strip at each side of, and close to, the bead and passing behind the filler to hold the major portion of the filler outwardly of the back face of the strip whereby the back of the wrapping opposite the bead is substantially flush with the back face of the strip at each side of the bead and the wrapping presents a substantially fiat back surface for adhesion to the handle, and the outer face of the wrapper presentss'ave for exposed stitchingan all-leather, one piece gripping surface.

5. A wrapping according to claim 4 wherein the bead terminates well short of the ends of the strip and extends along only a minor portion of its length.

6. A wrapping according to claim 4 wherein there are a pair of transversely spaced beads each formed as described therein.

'7. A grip for the handle of a golf club, racket, or the like, comprising a strip of leather spirally wrapped about and adhered to the handle with its edges abutting and having a longitudinally extending medially outward bead formed therein, a filler for the bead at the back side of the strip, stitching in the strip anchored to the strip along each side of the filler and bridging across the back thereof for holding the filler in the bead, the outer face of the leather strip being top grain treated to render it semi-tacky, and each margin of the strip, along the bead, being skived to present a suede finish rather than the grain.

8. A grip strip to be wrapped upon the handle of a racket or the like comprising a single strip of leather cut obliquely at its butt end and a corded seam pie-formed in the strip along the 9. A grip for the handle of a racket or the like comprising a single strip of leather spirally wrapped about the handle inwardly from its butt, the strip having pre-formed therein a corded seam running longitudinally of the strip and another corded seam running along the butt end of the strip and obliquely of the first corded seam to form a butt bead for the handle.

10. A strip of leather to be wrapped spirally about the handle of a racket or the like to form a handle grip, the strip being substantially parallelsided but at its end cut obliquely to provide an oblique edge to encircle the handle at the butt thereof, and a corded seam pre-formed in the strip along its oblique edge to provide a butt bead for the handle when wrapped thereon.

11. A strip according to claim 10 wherein the corded seam is formed by a filler cord on the back side of the strip and stitching across the cord on the back side and exposed on the face as a line of stitching along the respective sides defining the bead, and the cord pressing the leather outwardly to present a substantially half round bead.

12. A strip according to claim 10 wherein the corded seam is formed by an under-folded margin of the strip along its oblique edge, a filler cord in the bight of the fold, and a line of stitching along the cord immediately inwardly thereof securing the underfolded margin against the back side of the strip, thereby presenting a substantially three-quarter round bead for the butt of the handle.

13. A handle for a racket or the like having a grip comprising a strip of leather spirally wrapped thereon with the lateral edges of adjoining convolutions substantially in contact, the butt end of the strip cut obliquely to come in a plane parallel with the butt end of the handle, and a cord ed seam pre-formed in the strip along its oblique end to present a butt bead for the handle.

14. A grip for the handle of a golf club or the like, comprising a single thickness long strip of leather, a flexible filler strand extending medially along the strip wholly at the back side thereof, the strip being snugly conformed about the outer sides of the strand to present a narrow pronounced outward head in the strip extending therealong; and means carried by the strip and anchored thereto along each side of the strand and bridging across the back side of the strand for holding the strip and strand in this relationship whereby the strip,.as a preformed unit may spirally be wrapped upon, and directly adhered to, the handle, the lateral edges of the strip being of unfolded single thickness whereby, when the strip is spirally wrapped upon the handle, the edges form a butt joint between successive convolutions.

15. A grip according to claim 14, wherein the holding means are stitching penetrating the strip along both lateral edges of the base of the bead and extending across the back side of the strand.

16. A grip according to claim 14, wherein the outer face of the strip is a semi-tacky grain surface marginally skived to present a suede-finish skived band on either side of the bead to form, with the bead, an all-weather grip surface.

ELVER B. LAMIKIZN. 

